Ex-Las Vegas football player accused of rape at Utah State

By Lindsay Whitehurst The Associated Press

6 years ago

This undated booking photo provided by the Cache County Sheriff’s Office shows Jamaal A. Evans, a Utah State University football player, who has been charged with sexually assaulting a woman at a party. (Cache County Sheriff’s Office via AP)

QB Jamaal Evans, Centennial (6-3, 215): The senior passed for 2,148 yards and 21 TDs and rushed for 608 yards and 15 TDs. He made the All-Northwest League first team. Evans has committed to Utah State.

Centennial’s Jamaal Evans (2) is tackled against Las Vegas defense in their football game at Las Vegas High School on Friday, Sept. 16, 2016, in Las Vegas. Las Vegas won 24-21. Erik Verduzco/Las Vegas Review-Journal Follow @Erik_Verduzco

Centennial quarterback Jamaal Evans rushes against Arbor View in the first half of their prep football game at Arbor View High in Las Vegas Thursday, Oct. 29, 2015. Josh Holmberg/Las Vegas Review Journal

SALT LAKE CITY — A Utah State football player from Las Vegas is charged with raping a woman at a party, marking the latest in a string of similar cases at the school in recent years.

Jamaal A. Evans, 19, who graduated from Centennial High School, took an intoxicated woman into a room and sexually assaulted her on June 17, Cache County prosecutors said in court documents filed Thursday.

He is charged with rape and forcible sodomy, according to his arrest record with the Cache County Sheriff’s Office in Logan, Utah. He is scheduled to appear in court on July 10.

When the woman’s friend confronted him about what happened, he told her “when you’re in the moment and you want what you want, just got to do it sometimes,” and “he gave that girl what she wanted,” according to the court documents.

Evans told police the sex was consensual, according to documents. He said he was “a little buzzed,” but the woman didn’t seem drunk until she vomited after the encounter.

His lawyer, Shannon Demler, on Friday did not immediately respond to a message seeking comment.

Other partygoers told police the woman was acting intoxicated and her friend told police the woman was “completely incoherent” after the alleged assault. The woman told police she couldn’t remember what happened.

Evans redshirted last year as a freshman linebacker at Utah State. He has been suspended from the team.

The charges come as a former Utah State football player heads for trial on charges alleging he assaulted seven women between 2013 and 2015. Torrey Green has maintained his innocence.

Two fraternity members have also pleaded guilty in sexual assault cases in recent years. The university has pledged reform after an investigation found a pattern of sexual misconduct in its piano program.

Utah State spokesman Eric Warren said the school

takes the allegations seriously and will not tolerate sexual misconduct.